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Living and working in the region

Combining work with varied leisure activities is easy in the Gothenburg region. With good transport options, nature and stimulating cultural experiences are never far away. Welcome to the region of opportunity.

Gothenburg is an expansive region with a population in excess of 988,000 people, an international airport and Scandinavia's largest port. It is home to a broad spectrum of trade and industry and two universities, and following several years of good growth the population is expected to reach one million in 2017.

That so many people want to live and work in the Gothenburg region reflects the opportunities we can offer. There is ample room here for quality of life, regardless of whether you want to live in the countryside, the archipelago or the centre of a town – big or small.

In order to make room for more people and companies in the region, extensive initiatives are under way in areas such as sustainable urban development and infrastructure, with a focus on building more homes and expanding public transport.

A lively 400-year-old

Gothenburg is a small-scale city with charm. From the city centre, you can reach the sea and the archipelago in less than an hour. You can travel by tram to forests to get away from the hustle and bustle or to go for a run.

At the same time, Gothenburg has everything you could possibly want from a modern city, with a broad offering of shops, interesting cultural pursuits and culinary experiences of world class. Since the city centre is so compact, you can get around on foot and every part of town has its own character.

The city is also home to the Liseberg amusement park and hosts events such as the Gothia Cup youth football tournament, West Pride, the Göteborgsvarvet half marathon, the Way Out West music festival and the Gothenburg Film Festival.

At present, Gothenburg is celebrating something special. In 2021, the city will be 400 years old and this is being commemorated with a number of projects that aim to make Gothenburg an even better city in which to live and work

More to experience

Each of the region's other twelve municipalities has something unique to offer and all of them are easily reached by public transport. Here is a selection of what they have to offer:

Alingsås, the town with the most coffee shops per person in Sweden, is just 30 minutes from Gothenburg. In October each year, some 85,000 people visit the Lights in Alingsås event where light designers from all over the world get to decorate the town.

Also just over half an hour from Gothenburg is the municipality of Lilla Edet, which has a rich history. Here you can visit the Lödöse Museum, which has archaeological finds from the medieval port town of Lödöse, as well as Sweden's oldest lock, which was completed in 1607 after being proposed by King John III of Sweden.

Fifteen minutes north of Gothenburg is the municipality of Kungälv, which boasts several hiking trails, Bohus Fortress and Carlsten Fortress. The latter is located on Marstrand, an island that every July hosts Sweden's largest international sailing event, Match Cup Sweden.

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Did you know that…

…Sweden's first commuter library is located at the train station in Ale? Here you can borrow a book and then catch a train.
…there are seven golf courses in Kungsbacka Municipality?
…the American TV company CNN has listed Bohuslän as one of the world's last great wilderness areas, in particular "the scenic islands of Orust and Tjörn"?
…Gothenburg won the 2014 Access City Award for work in the city to enhance accessibility for older people and persons with disabilities?
…George W. Bush's signature is engraved in glass at the Råda Säteri manor house in Härryda Municipality? The autograph came about in conjunction with the president's visit to Gothenburg in 2001.
…Gunnebo House in Mölndal Municipality is one of Northern Europe's foremost venues dating from the 1700s?
…since 1970, the Partille Cup handball tournament has welcomed more than 400,000 young players and their trainers from more than 95 countries?Source: Business Region Göteborg, Ale Municipality, Lilla Edet Municipality, Partille Cup